The Tree
by Tikal Tyrant
Summary: A Candy Earth Day special! Cartman finds Wendy in the woods cleaning, and now he wants to help?


A/N: This is my Cartman & Wendy Earth Day special! I know it's a little late in the day, but I didn't know it was Earth Day till earlyer today. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own South Park. If I did, Wendy and Cartman would have made out in at least one of Cartman's fantasies in Fish Sticks.

**The Tree:**

It was a normal day in South Park, which was actually pretty abnormal, and Cartman was walking by Stark's Pond. He was currently cramming a chocolate bar into his mouth. When he finished licking every hint of chocolate from the wrapper, he carlessly let it fall to the snowy ground below. He lifted a can of Sprite up and gracelessly snapped it open. While he chugged the lemon-lime syrup, he heard odd noises from within the trees. Curiosity took over, and the large boy decended into the forest.

His eyebrows rose when he saw a pretty, yet odd, sight. There she was, crouched in a clearing. Her long, black hair fell like silk over her face. She seemed to be pulling rubble out of the dirt and throwing it into a pile on a large wagon. "Wendy?" Cartman asked himself before he walked up to her, still gulping down his Sprite.

"The Hell are you doing, ho?" Wendy looked up at Cartman and brushed the hair out of her face, though her bangs stayed plastered to her forehead.

"Oh great," Wendy dreadfully said. "What do you want, Eric?" Cartman simply shrugged, causing Wendy to roll her eyes. She continued to struggle with a board of wood that was sticking out of the dirt. Noticing this, Cartman finished off the remainder of his Sprite, dropped the can on the ground, walked beside Wendy, and pulled the board out of the dirt. "Haha! You couldn't pull that out of the ground? You're so weak, Wendy," he said as he dropped the board into the wagon.

"What do you think you're doing, Cartman?" Wendy snapped.

Cartman rose an eyebrow. "Well that's not very nice. Is that how you say thank you to people?" Wendy put her hands on her hips and nodded to the can. Cartman's brow narrowed. "Alright, fiiine." He picked it up and threw it in the wagon. "Bitch."

"Cartman!" Wendy yelled.

Cartman backed away in surprise. "Woah. Calm down, ho."

Wendy walked over to the wagon and pulled a plastic bag filled with aluminum cans off the other side and put the can in it. "Put the cans in this bag, Eric."

"Jesus, is that all. You didn't have to scream," Cartman said. "Stupid Hippie."

Wendy grumbled a little and returned to picking up pieces of rubble and throwing them in the wagon.

After a while of watching Wendy pull up heavy boards, Cartman decided to help. Of course, he only pulled up the smaller pieces.

Wendy stopped for a moment and looked in awe at Cartman's participation. "Why are you doing that? You don't have to help you know," Wendy said, unsure if she would regret it. She actually wanted help. Cleaning was a tiring job after all.

Cartman quickly answered, "Because I'm a nice person."

Wendy gave Cartman a look of obvious disbelief. She knew Cartman wasn't a nice person. She knew he had an ulterior motive. She just didn't know what it was. Maybe he just wanted to spend time with her? Wendy shook her head. "Yeah right," she said only loud enough for herself to hear.

"Why is there so much crap here anyway?" Cartman asked in slight disgust.

"They didn't clean up very well after the Wall*Mart was torn down," Wendy explained.

"So let someone else clean up Massacre's Field. Argue to the mayor or something," Cartman whined. Wendy shook her head at Cartman's comment, but she couldn't help but smile at how Cartman it was.

"Ok," Wendy said a good while later, after all the rubble was loaded onto the wagon. She took hold of the handle. "I'm heading for the dumpster now."

Cartman followed Wendy as she pulled the wagon along. "Why were you doing this anyhow?" he asked. He voiced this as though it were a pointless task.

Wendy looked back at Cartman as though he was stupid for asking. "Because it's Earth Day."

Cartman laughed a little. "That's kinda funny."

Wendy stopped walking and turned completely around to face Cartman. "How is it funny, Eric?"

"Because, Wendy," he said, putting a harsh emphasis on the name. "You're saying we don't need to care about the Earth unless it's Earth Day. You're telling me it's ok to litter, but if it's Earth Day, you have to go out of your way to pick up garbage."

"That's not at all what I'm saying, Cartman!" She fumed. Cartman just glared at her.

"And that!" He yelled.

"And what?" Wendy asked, unsure of what he was pointing out.

"You keep switching what you call me. It's annoying. Choose a name and stick with it," Cartman yelled.

Wendy was thrown by this sudden change in subjects. "What? Well, what do you want me to call you?"

Cartman rolled his eyes and continued walking, grabbing hold of the wagon as he passed by. "Whatever. Just, next time you say my name, that's what you call me. I can't keep up with you changing it all the time."

When the two reached the dumpster, Cartman bagan to lift some of the pile, but was stopped when Wendy shoved him out of her way. She quickly started to throw the rubble into the dumpster. "Fine. That's fine," Cartman said, crossing his arms. After the wagon was empty, Wendy grabbed the handle began pulling it again. She walked faster than normal.

Cartman quickened his step to keep up with her. "Where are you going now?" Cartman asked, his tone sounding unfriendly. Wendy just ignored him. "Hey, answer me, dirt lover."

Wendy made it to her house and ran to the back yard to drop off the wagon. When she came back, she held a small tree in her arms like a baby, a smile now on her face. The sudden change in her mood irritated Cartman.

"Haha!" Cartman yelled. "Tree hugger!" Wendy glared daggers at him. "What?" Cartman asked, still laughing. "Did I insult you?" Wendy quickly walked off towards Stark's Pond

"Why don't you just go home?" Wendy asked without slowing her speed. "You aren't helping any," she huffed.

"You won't let me help," Cartman replied.

"That's because you're stupid, and you're a racist," Wendy explained.

A moment after that comment, the familiarity of the conversation hit, and the two busted into giggles. Then, they remembered what had occured after that conversation, and they both blushed, walking in an akward silence.

Once they returned to the clearing, Wendy shoved the tree into Cartman's arms and ran off behind a tree. Cartman held the tree in uncertainty. He moved his arms around to keep from hugging it, but then it looked like he was holding it like a baby. Wendy returned with a shovel almost as tall as her. She began digging a hole right in the middle of the clearing. Carman just stood quietly, cradling the tree.

"Wow, Wendy," Cartman said, actually a little impressed. "You cleaned this whole place out by yourself?" He had to admit that the place was cleaner than it was before.

"Well," Wendy thought for a moment, "you helped." Cartman grinned in satisfaction. "But not by much," Wendy added, making Cartman huff.

Wendy stuck the shovel in the ground next to her new hole. "Go on," she said. "Put it in. I'm ready."

Cartman looked nervously at the tree. Then, he slowely lowered it into the hole, let go, and as it began to tip, quickly held it still. "Just hold it," Wendy ordered. She pulled the shovel back up and began scooting the dirt back into the hole. Soon, the hole was filled up, and Cartman and Wendy were both on the ground, patting at the dirt around the tree.

"There now. See that?" Wendy said cheerfully. "We just planted a tree."

"Yeah," Cartman said. Wendy could actually see a bit of a smile on his face, making her smile more as well. "It'll probably die soon, though."

Wendy scowled at him. "Well you didn't have to help, Eric!" Cartman's eyes widened at the sound of his name, followed by his grin. Whether she realized it or not, Wendy had said Eric. "Don't smile about the tree dying," Wendy said.

Cartman laughed. "I was just joking." He stood up to get a better look at the tree. Wendy turned her glare to the tree and smiled. She pulled herself up beside Cartman. Cartman saw the insane amount of joy in Wendy's smile. It was all over a stupid tree, too. Still, this very Wendy like action made Cartman's mouth stretch wide. He looked back at the tree and laughed to himself.

There they stood, looking at their tree. It might not be the strongest or most beautiful tree in the world, but it was their's. The shadows of the other trees surrounded the two as they watched their own. The sun had long since hid behind the mountains. The nastolgia soon took over, and slowly, like magnets, Wendy and Cartman's hands began to pull closer to each other. Their fingers touched, and their hands turned to cup the other's, and for a few minutes, that was how they stood.

Suddenly, reality soaked in, and simultaniously, they pulled their hands apart, blushing. "Well, I had better be getting home," they both said in unison.

"Huh," Cartman said, looking away to hide his blush.

Wendy too looked away and blushed. "Wierd," she said. The scenario was all too familiar.

"Well, I'll see you..." Cartman began as he walked backwards away.

"Tomorrow," Wendy finished, also backing away.

"Yeah," Cartman turned around and walked home the long way to go in a different direction than Wendy. Both their hearts beat fast as they ran to their respective houses. Both their minds stayed on the same things. They both questioned when they could be like that again.


End file.
